Swaziland: Liberation without Nationalism?

Historically there were close links between the ANC and Swazi elites
and even workers. The Swazi monarchy took part in the founding of the
ANC in 1912, and Queen Regent Labotsibeni provided the capital for the
launching of Congress' newspaper, Abantu-Batho. Congress
leaders were part of a Swaziland delegation to England.104 What I would like to examine is the
relationship between Swazi workers and the current Swazi [national]
liberation movement, PUDEMO. Richard Levin argues that competing forms
of nationalism developed in a decolonising Swaziland: a more
"tribalised" conservative form, and a (Pan-) African
nationalism with links to workers' struggles. The Ngwane National
Liberatory Congress (NNLC), formed in 1963, with a Nkrumahist and
vaguely-socialist policy took a prominent role in large-scale strikes
by sugar, wood, asbestos and other workers, stimulated by rising
unemployment and the freezing of wages, that took place on the eve of
independence, in defiance of King Sobhuza, prompting the authorities
to call on British troops. In 1972 elections three opposition
victories in working-class electorates were construed as
anti-Royalism, and effectively annulled by the imposition of a Royal
State of Emergency, which saw the banning of meetings and dissolution
of trade unions__the radical National Union of
Teachers was banned. The NNLC "appealed to the workers,"
according to Joshua Mugyenyi, who characterises it as petty bourgeois
and their brief alliance with workers as "the nearest to a popular
alliance Swaziland has ever had," but with a narrow base that
foundered on a peasantry submissive to state control through land.105 Similarly Levin suggests that in
contrast to worker protests, the lack of peasant mobilisation is based
on the achievement of ruling class hegemony on the land
question. Laurel Rose's work on the harmonising of land disputes, and
Paul Bowen's thesis on local rural politics and the role of
"traditional" ideology make a similar point.106 Like the period after the banning of
the ANC in South Africa, a political vacuum occurred in the
opposition, although worker-nationalist links made may have endured
underground. The death of Sobhuza II in 1982, and the gradual
inauguration of his successor, Prince Makhosetive, ushered in not only
a dynastic power struggle, but a more prominent opposition, including
student protests and the distribution of opposition leaflets in rural
areas in 1983, inducing a partial boycott of the 1983 election. South
African pressure, seen in the armed raid against the ANC in Lesotho in
December 1982, and increasingly violent Swazi government repression of
the ANC and internal opposition at this time and after Nkomati, in
concert with Pretoria, made opposition difficult.107

80% of the Swazi Nation is dependent in some way on wages, especially
migrant labour. Manipulation of land interests and
traditional-National images by the monarchy and the allied
Tibiyo structure, including the use of the Tinkundla
councils, has encouraged corruption and opportunism, making class
alliances amongst exploited classes more difficult. Margo Russell
notes that in a 1978 survey 82% of rural homesteads had at least some
members in wage labour, 32.75% of adults were in paid employment, with
76% of absentees working inside the country.108 Workers
were compelled to rely on works councils, which management chaired,
and which provided no form of national union protection, and
Ndabazabantu, an official linking modern and traditional
hierarchies. Worker dissent was partly quelled by the institution of a
minimum wage board, but unions were effectively smashed. By 1985 the
Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions was functioning as a
state-aligned body which discouraged strikes. Deputy Prime Minister
Zonke Khumalo [recently arrested by Mozambican intelligence for
allegedly trying to set up hit-squads with MNR expertise] reacted to a
mining strike by stating that "trade unionism is a foreign
ideology to the Swazis. All workers in this kingdom are his majesty's
regiments."109

Mugyenyi stresses the role of the state in crushing both labour and
liberation movements, an embryonic alliance of workers and middle
classes, in the 1960-80's, but shows that the accumulation of capital
in Swaziland has generated increased proletarianisation and a
burgeoning middle class, re-creating the structural basis for such an
alliance, whilst unemployment, land hunger and political instability
of the Royal succession, have weakened the state. Some peasants have
been evicted from the land because of their rejection of chiefly
hegemony, and under pressure for privatisation of communal land.110 Funnell found that buried under a
barrage of propaganda about the homogeneous Swazi Nation, rural social
stratification was indeed increasing.111 Rural
worker/peasants, many with some access to land, though this is
shrinking, are entangled with all sorts of monarchical tributes112 and obligations that any [national]
liberation movement must confront: confront and not try and embody the
African heritage, an entirely different situation to that in South
Africa. Population, land hunger, and unemployment is increasing, and
with prospects of some firms likely to re-locate to South Africa,
class tensions could be expected to rise.

Faced with this situation what has been the response of workers and
the "liberation" movement? Swazi electric dam workers struck
in June 1982, appealing to police to employ "the Swazi way" in
dealing with them. There were strikes of other workers in 1987 and
1989-90. The king has continued to view strikes as "un-Swa:zi"
and whilst no longer banning unions, has opted to encourage class
harmony. Arrests of members of the People's United Democratic
Movement, PUDEMO, have taken place. Funnell notes the appearance of
PUDEMO "represents a revival of many of the political issues of
the 1960's, awakening calls for a more democratic style of
government." In April 1992 PUDEMO "unbanned" itself, and
began working openly for change. What links are there between PUDEMO
and peasants/workers. Mugyenyi in 1987 felt that popular alliances had
not yet matured, but that just as the regime relied on Pretoria,
change in South Africa could ignite a strong movement for democracy in
Swaziland.113 Now that this is happening in South
Africa, is there an effect in the tiny kingdom?

Slogans and leaflets from PUDEMO, or Insika Yenkhululeko
Yemawati in 1989 led to a police crack-down. Political
organisation without police permission under the Sedition Act makes
one liable to 20 years prison. The SACP characterised the movement as
a "broad nationalist organisation that draws inspiration from the
Mass Democratic Movement in South Africa," noting its first
internal conference drew worker, peasant, student and a few small
business delegates.114 Against
this background I introduce Jabulane Matsebula, a founder and
executive member of PUDEMO, one of the least-known liberation
movements in Africa. His mother works a small farm, and he became a
teacher. Forced to leave the country after torture, he was accepted as
a political refugee by Australia. An interview115 with
him reveals a number of salient points:

"PUDEMO was formed in 1984 as a result of popular opinion to the
undemocratic rule of the minority royal family . . . to ensure and
restore the constitutional and Parliamentary, multi-party democratic
government with popular participation and respect of majority
rule. . .[and] advance the social, economic and political interests of
our people. . .[it sees itself as] "a people's organisation. . .a
broad based organisation that encompasses all sectors of the
community. Its main commitment is to liberate the Swazi nation from
traditional bondage. In fact it was formed by young people, and the
membership is mainly young people and the workers. . .we had factory
workers; the Vice-President was a lecturer at the University; the
President is. . .working for a bank.""

Asked about PUDEMO's image and support amongst workers and farmers, he
noted

"we have been forced to operate underground. . . So it has been
quite difficult for the movement to put forward its ideas to the
masses. However we have done a lot. . .by. . .organising underground
meetings . . . [and] a lot of underground structures. One. . .quite
effective. . .is the Swaziland Youth Congress. . .we felt it was
important to first mobilise the people with a bit of
understanding. . .in schools, in the cities. . . However we are moving
to the rural areas as we want things to start on the grassroots
level. . . Many of the working class. . .are migrant workers, and when
they return home, having experienced a lot of union activity, they
bring back the idea of unionism, in that way it creates a lot of
awareness. Most workers are now aware of their rights. . . The unions
have not been been operating legally for very long. They are now
operating under the ruling regime. . . What we want now is to divert
it from being a government-linked union organisation to be an
independent union organisation. . . Since the birth of PUDEMO we have
been doing a lot to create unions. . . Another area has not been
attended to__women in Swaziland are really
subjected to all sorts of harassment, ranging from sexual harassment
at places of work and in any environment. . .the King is abusing
women's rights. Most men. . .are abusing women's rights because they
think it is being done at the top. She loses all her basic
rights."116

It was in a discussion of his own life and views that the complexity
of the worker-liberation link really emerged. His path to activism was
through friendship with more political students, as there had been no
stimulation of critical thought at school, and invoking of "the
Swazi Way" was used to discourage critical thought:

"The curriculum is geared to respecting the monarchy and all that
sort of thing. There is nothing that is taught in the schools that is
related to politics. . . So actually it was even taboo to mention the
ANC in the teaching of South African history. . . Under the state of
emergency the people's minds were filled with fear and
intimidation. . . The "Swazi Way" is quite a popular term
used by those in power. . .to suppress the people or to create an
atmosphere of fear. . . So whenever they feel that we are challenging
the monarchy. . .they say it is un-Swazi, this is not the
"Swazi Way" of living. It is a popular term used by
those in power to silence the people."

In this environment political mobilisation was constrained, as in the
rural areas

"It is very difficult because most of the people are
illiterate. . . So we are using other means now to. . .put forward to
them that they are. . .living under traditional bondage. . . There is
a need for a foot bridge so we organise the community, we bring the
materials, and say, okay, lets come together to build the bridge,
because we need the bridge and the government is not taking care of
[it]. We are doing practical things. While we are having that project
we will be talking to those people. . . When a family is being evicted
we contact them to assist and tell them them look, this is how the
government is protecting the people. So most people understand now
that PUDEMO is bringing some solution. . . That way we have actually
drawn a lot of support from within the rural people, the workers, and
the youth especially. . . At times it is very difficult for some of
the people in the rural areas, because . . . they can't afford to buy
a radio, a newspaper, so its hard for them to know what is
happening. . .[but] as times go on as we get deeper they know we
belong to the movement."

But interestingly PUDEMO rejects nationalism, even as a
counter-weapon, probably due to the monarchical overkill of Swazi Way
propaganda. This is best revealed in a fuller interview version:

How do you view the relationship of workers and the liberation
movement?

In fact, PUDEMO was established by workers, so we have a working
class ideology, and the members of PUDEMO are the working class
people. It was actually inspired by the continued exploitation of the
working class and the domination of the entire nation. . . So we
actually link ourselves mostly with the working people.

But you see yourselves as a liberation movement?

Yes, we see ourselves as a liberation movement because we actually
commit ourselves to emancipate the people from the traditional
bondage.

Are you a national liberation movement?Do you see nationatism as
an issue? What about this concept of "tribal nationalism" that
Richard Levin used?

Well the fascinating thing is that there are no tribes in
Swaziland.

Maybe what he means is "conservative" or
"traditional" nationalism?

Yeah. Perhaps that's what he meant, because there are no tribes in
Swaziland, it's just one nation.

But nationalism would be strong, because of what the king has
done? Its use of the past, the Swazi Way, was nationalism? The ANC,
for instance, has its symbols and traditions.

Yes, that's why we are moving away from it. . . We are trying to
avoid those kind of things.117 People
have got to have the right to think and to communicate their opinions
without any fear of being intimidated. . . The only tool we are using
is the
fist__sibhakela__a
symbol of PUDEMO, as the killer punch, trying to eliminate all form of
domination by the minority rule, so the punch itself is destroying all
the repression.

Were there parallels between the NLLC and PUDEMO regarding
relationships with worker and liberation movements, such as existed in
other countries like Namibia and South Africa?

Yes there is a similar thing, especially when you compare NLLC and
PUDEMO, because NLLC too was influenced by working class ideology, it
had a lot of support from the working
people__that's why the monarchy threatened it,
because they were looking at the basic interests of the working
people.

Some critics see ZANU, SWAPO, perhaps the ANC118 as sell
outs? Ministers driving around in Meedes?

I think we are learning quite a lot from other liberation
movements. . .and we are trying to avoid those sort of things. . . I
argued with my comrades at home, because in the composition of the
National Executive there were only intellectuals, there was no farmer,
no shop steward; I said this cannot be a movement addressing the core
issues. . . We need to have a farmer, we need to have a shop steward,
we need to have women, m the NEC.

How did that happen, because you said it was formed by workers?
Was it because workers stopped being workers, or was it because they
were still working and didn't have time for committees?

Yes, most of the workers didn't want to involve themselves into
leadership positions, but they helped to form it.

I hope this indicates some of the similarities and differences between
the largest and smallest liberation movements in Southern
Africa. Recent changes in South Africa, meanwhile, have not basically
altered Swaziland's dependence on South Africa. But it is possible
events there put pressure on the king to agree to a series of rather
controlled open-air public meetings (the Masitsela Commission) in late
1991, and to a vague New Year amnesty

saying that political exiles should come back home. But we were quite
upset that the country continued to be ruled under royal
command. . .there is no written guarantee for safe passage of the
returnees119. . . We had hoped that when de Klerk
took some steps. . .Swaziland would have followed suit. . . In fact
the fear of a recurrence of South African-style hit-squads is growing
in Swaziland. . . The Swaziland Justice Minister, Zonke Khumalo, has
been placed at the centre of the. . .controversy following his arrest
by Mozambican intelligence forces, apparently whilst trying to set up
hit-squads, probably with MNR bandit forces. Secondly, there were
attempts to steal mini-buses of visiting students at the inter-varsity
sports held in Swaziland. Police failed to respond to the attempted
thefts, and when thieves fatally shot a student, police again failed
to investigate, fuelling suspicions of collusion with the
attempt. Thirdly an unsuccessful attempt was made to abduct the
prominent democratic opposition leader, Ray Russon, Vice-President
of. . .PUDEMO, which has responded to the threats by unbanning itself,
although this holds grave threats for the safety of its
members."120

PUDEMO's current demands show a strong concern with democratic rights
but also the need to challenge state economic power. They include "the
dissolution of the Parliament and the convening of a National
Assembly. . .setting up an Interim Government. . .to facilitate a
peaceful transition process to a new democratic Swazi society; the
dismantling of the Tinkhundla machinery and the transfer of
political and economic power to the democratic majority; the lifting
of the State of Emergency and withdrawal of all repressive
legislation. . .an immediate end to state corruption, misuse of public
funds and nepotism which bred corruption; liquidation of all royal
family controlled state and private enterprises. . .which continue to
loot the national wealth"121 There
is a clear difference here, and in other statements between PUDEMO and
"opposition" MPs. PUDEMO reject a nationalist approach,
although even they are forced into constant references to the people
and the Swazi nation. The MPs, however, cling to respect for the King,
evoking memories of how an earlier NLLC opposition leader, Ambrose
Zwane, was lured back from exile merely by a delegation from
Sobhuza. At a meeting organised by the Human Rights Association of
Swaziland at the Mbabane Town Council, MP Philip Dzingalive Dlamini
charged that Swaziland had a brutal system of government, evidenced by
evictions of families, dismissal of people from jobs, and vicious
attacks on students. But his criticism was carefully couched:

. . .authorities here have always continued to deliberately confuse
political issues with Swazi culture. 'It is now time they were told
that they are not the only ones qualified to tell us what is Swati and
what is not Swazi. We are totally loyal to our King but reject the
idea of political devils hiding behind him. . . Mr. Dlarnini suggested
that the Tinkhundla system of government did not originate from
Swaziland but was the brain-child of the evil Verwoerd doctrine of
bantustanism. . .[he] also attacked a statement made by the chairman
of the Tinkhundia Vusela Committee, Prince Masitsela who said the
Dlaminis are the only ones closer to 'God.'"

At another Human Rights Day meeting in the Ezulwini Valley, Deputy
President of the Senate Arthur Khoza called for political change and
stated that "'These days if we disagree over something I will say
you are un-Swazi'. . . He charged that in Swaziland rights are abused
in the name of culture." Significanfly the MP's claimed
parliamentary privilege.122

Because of repression it is difficult to chart precise links between
workers and opposition forces, but some basic connections seem evident
from the scanty information presented. The situation is made more
complicated by movements to South Africa by landless and jobless
Swazi. Matsebula confirms that some Swaz:i working in South Africa are
indeed choosing to remain in that country. Whether some future [ANC?]
government chooses to slam the door on this "solution" to
Swazi population and employment problems may depend on the sort of
relations forged between workers and nationalists. Although there has
been a good degree of solidarity amongst "comrades against
apartheid," there are no formal links between PUDEMO and the
ANC.123

The Past in the Future

Can nationalisms now shorn of their socialist trappings maintain a
coherent relationship with trade unions and workers? The answer is
possibly yes, but more likely in those communities in which socialist
ideology or its equivalents have not taken some root. In the urban
areas of South Africa and Zimbabwe, like Zambia, workers and unions
are becoming more intolerant of unproductive rhetoric. A
de-politicising of workers is also a possibility, particularly in
places such as Zimbabwe and South Africa, where the media is
sufficiently controlled. The example of Namibia has also shown that a
nationalist movement can form intimate links with workers, indeed a
SWAPO initiative established the National Union of Namibian Workers
(NUNW),124 and although worker dissatisfaction
since independence has occurred, some worker rights have been included
in the constitution.125 African
nationalism has a myriad of bonds, historic, cultural, and structural,
and in the absence of viable optional models and prerequisites for
social transformation126 is
likely to retain some vestige of such links.

This paper has concentrated largely on organised workers, but the
links or lack of links with unorganised workers requires comparative
research, as are the issues of nationalism and its relations to labour
bureaucracy and land reform. There has been a tendency to highlight
nationalist movements/governments as bureaucratic, and counter-pose
unions merely as the undeconstructed defenders of worker rights. There
has been some acknowledgment of bureaucracy in the ZCTU, especially
before 1985 when there was the rise a more militant leadership, in the
government-controlled unions in Swaziland, and in research on SACTU
and some other unions in South Africa. Mark Leier notes that recent
studies on "labour aristocracy" tend to blur distinctions
between officials and rank and file, especially with regard to shared
ideology. Instead, he suggests it is more fruitful to look at the
power relationship between the two, to study the bureaucrats rather
than the ideology.127 In
Southern Africa, where black workers receive so little, it seems
almost sacrilegious to talk of a black labour aristocracy, although it
would resonate with an earlier debate over African workers as a labour
aristocracy. It is more likely that, like all black strata were
compressed by apartheid, all black working strata will be compressed
by scarcity.

Zimbabwe and Swaziland unions have been too weak to be able to resist
the funnelling down of nationalism from government. In Namibia,
despite disappointment at the rate of progress since 1990, unions and
workers are giving SWAPO, with whom they have enjoyed closer ties,
more time to deliver. The situation is more evenly balanced in South
Africa, with a more two-way interaction, workers influencing the ANC
and vice versa, made more complex by the fact that the worker is often
an African nationalist. A future ANC/democratic government in South
Africa would be equipped ideologically to exploit African nationalism
in the building of a New South Africa. But its relationship with black
workers would depend on the power of and support from below of the
unions. Paraphrasing Carl Levy, anti-apartheid struggles allowed the
ANC and SACP to colonise popular nationalism. Whether a New South
Africa succeeds in colonising the ANC may well be decided by the level
of worker influence inside Congress.128

Land reform is on the agenda of all African nationalist movements in
the region, being a(the) basic cause for their existence, and is again
prominent in Zimbabwe. If workers continue to maintain their links to
the land, then the resolution of land reform (or at least its promise)
in their favour is crucial to a harmonious relationship with
nationalists. Ironically, the more successful they are in this regard,
the less they are likely to develop worker power as
such. Indeed, as Basil Sansom has shown with regard to the Pedi,
migrant labour can simply be an avenue to invest in an old age rooted
in tradition.129 Internal migration and farm duties
leave little time for unionising. Which brings us full circle back to
seeing the intimate links between the two movements.

How is all this influenced by the crisis in regional
"socialist-orientation?" It is as unsatisfactory to reduce the
jettisoning of "socialism" as merely "nationalist
betrayal" stressing its "petty bourgeois character" as a
primeval flaw, as to have characterised its adoption as importation of
"foreign ideology," as Thandika Mkandawire has noted, claiming
that

"the frustration of the liberal and the left with the nationalist
movements post-independence posture is due to a reading of both
the[ir] agenda and the structure. . .[that] tended to underestimate
the historical import of national independence and. . .unity in the
eyes of the nationalist leadership. Other additions to the
agenda. . .were always on uncertain grounds. . . The point here is
that if other items. . .are to be placed back on the agenda. . .it
will be through the birth of new social movements based on new
coalitions."130

In conclusion, reasons for the probable continuation of
nationalist-worker links are firstly cultural, in the continued
appropriation of history and culture by
parties__from the Chimurenga to the ANC's Spear of
the Nation__and secondly structural. In the
countries discussed many workers retain some links with the land, and
given the lack of viable alternatives such workers will probably
continue to support nationalist governments - in fact alternative
rulers are likely to present themselves as nationalists. However the
defeat of Kaunda in Zambia, being replaced by an ex-trade unionist,
and the strong showing in urban areas of opposition parties in
Zimbabwe, should be a warning to these nationalisms that fail to heed
messages "from below."